In London at 8am yesterday morning, congestion was down 51% on the typical morning peak of 2019, according to data from the navigation company TomTom. On Monday morning – prior to the Prime Minister’s address that evening – congestion was down by 40%.

Last week, before the restrictions on movement were introduced, the reduction in congestion during the morning peak in the capital compared to last year’s average was typically between 19 and 27%.

Manchester recorded a 56% drop in congestion yesterday morning against last year’s average, compared to 42% on Monday and 34% last Wednesday. Birmingham saw a 44% drop in morning peak congestion yesterday compared to last year’s average, against 35% on Monday and 21% last Wednesday.

Elsewhere across the country, Belfast’s congestion levels yesterday compared to last year’s average was as much as 68% lower. In Edinburgh, the reduction on typical values was 62% and in Cardiff it was 50%.

On the south coast, Brighton & Hove’s congestion levels were 49% down on last year’s average in the city, and in Bournemouth the figure was 47%. Over in Bristol the reduction on 2019’s average was 55%, in Hull it was 48% and in Nottingham it was 42%.

Reduced levels of traffic will certainly have cut pollution and improved air quality. But a Greenpeace UK spokesman pointed out: “People may well enjoy a breath of clean air now, but this reduction in pollution has been achieved in the least sustainable way possible.

“We can't just rely on the side effects of an unprecedented health crisis and economic shutdown to cut pollution or carbon emissions. If we want a thriving economy, clean air and a safe climate, we need to build the low carbon infrastructure that will get us there.”

(Photograph: Elliott Brown and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)